IRAQ condemns lifting candidate ban

Appellate panel’s decision rejected by Shi’ite parties:

IRAQ: Iraq’s government branded as illegal on Thursday an appeals panel decision that would allow people suspected of Baath party ties to run in elections next month and called a special session of parliament on the issue.

Political wrangling is heating up ahead of the March 7 vote, seen as a crucial test for Iraq as it emerges from years of strife unleashed by the 2003 USinvasion and tries to make peace between once dominant Sunnis and the Shi’ite majority.

The appeals panel said candidates barred by the Justice and Accountability Commission set up to ensure Saddam Hussein’s Baath party did not return to public life could stand in the poll, but would still have a case to answer.

“Postponing implementing the law of the Justice and Accountability Commission until after the election is illegal and not constitutional,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement on his website.

It was unclear if the government could contest the panel’s decision much of the process of banning the candidates has involved creative interpretations of the law and the legality of the commission that drew up the list is also in question.

Hamdiya al-Husseini, an official with the Independent High Electoral Commission, said the start of campaigning would be postponed and that the body had asked a high court to rule on whether it was required to abide by the panel’s decision.

“The (start of) election campaigning has been postponed from Feb. 7 to Feb. 12 to give time to the federal court to look into our inquiry,” she told Reuters by telephone.

Officials said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had called on lawmakers to discuss the dispute in parliament, which would meet on Sunday in an extraordinary session.

The appellate panel’s decision was rejected by Shi’ite parties, which along with minority Kurds bore the brunt of Baath party oppression under the rule of Sunni dictator Saddam.

“It is a betrayal of the people and the blood which poured in Saddam’s era and after the occupation,” cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said in a statement on his website.

“It will be a stigma to the forehead of the miserable government,” said Sadr, whose fiery anti-American message mobilised millions of poor Shi’ites after the invasion.

Some suspected U.S. interference. The panel’s decision mirrored a proposal by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

Iraq’s “de-Baathification” rules were originally drawn up by U.S. administrators after Saddam was driven from power in 2003.

The candidate ban was seen by many Sunnis as a conspiracy by Shi’ite-led groups to deprive them of a fair share of power even though the list has more Shi’ite names and a disproportionate number from smaller, cross-sectarian alliances.

Sunni lawmaker Saleh al-Mutlaq, who is on the list, called the appeals panel’s decision a “victory” for the Iraqi people.

Sunnis largely boycotted the last national vote in 2005, and their resentment fuelled a bloody insurgency. Weary of the bloodshed, politicians have tried to be more cross-sectarian.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, said the appeals panel’s decision should be respected and suggested that if Iraqis viewed the election as illegitimate, violence was possible.

“Bitter feeling could turn to ... anger,” Hashemi said. “I don’t know the consequences of that ... but, really, it could be dangerous.”

Hashemi also said foreign countries, including the United States, might not recognize the outcome of the election, saying he discussed this with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week.

Amid the simmering row over candidates, attacks on Shi’ite pilgrims on a religious trek are adding to sectarian tensions, which have eased since their peak in 2006-7.

While leaders in Baghdad issued denunciations, some Shi’ite pilgrims in the holy city of Kerbala welcomed the move, despite a spate of attacks by suspected Sunni Islamist extremists.

“The Baath party died when Saddam died,” said Ali Adel, a 48-year-old a civil servant. “We cannot implement Saddam’s policy of excluding others. Politicians should learn a lesson from Saddam if they want to build Iraq in a correct way.” BAGHDAD, Friday, Reuters